Review on Ipod Nano (5G-5th generation). This review I have written for those who are in two minds whether to purchase this or not.
Ipod Nano 5G, which I will hereafter refer to as Nano, is not an independent unit and needs a computer for loading songs, picture etc. on it. Hence if you don’t have your own computer or laptop there is no use buying Nano.
The Nano price is from Rs 8000/- to 9400/- depending on your purchase from Grey market to official stores. The box comes with Ipod Nano 5G which is of the same size as mobile phones but very thin. On this unit there is 2.2” (Diagonal) display at the top and control buttons below (A center button – when pressed selects menu item; around this a click wheel, one has to run his finger lightly around this wheel to move up and down the menu. This same click wheel can be clicked in four different directions for selecting submenu, start, pause etc.).
There is a cable which joints Nano to computer (by USB 2.0 Port). Also inside is a basic headphone and a small cute leaflet, explaining operations. The Nano is automatically charged when joined to Computer but you will have to buy a charger when you want to charge it without computer. The original charge costs 1300 Rs extra or you can buy Chinese charger costing 400 to 500 Rs.
Though Nano has its own speaker, the sound is shrill and irritating (this is expected because of its small size) so you are generally expected to hear it through earphones (The quality is good). Special quality earphones and Headphones are available extra. There are docking stations available (upwards of Rs. 3000/-) whereby you can hear Nano through big speakers.
When you open Nano, You can directly use its Video Camera. The picture quality is good outdoor and acceptable indoors. There is no control except “Start & Stop”. No Zoom. No focus control. No Flash. The first thing you will notice is your finger coming in the picture. It requires practice to hold the Camera properly. There is no still photo Camera.
You can also use FM Radio immediately. The earphone is used as Antenna; hence you cannot hear it without earphone like other songs. You can scan and locate and preset stations easily. There is live pause feature (Means you can “pause” radio, do other work and resume radio, the song you would have otherwise lost is stored in memory and played back to you.).
Now comes the part of loading songs on Nano. You need to download (through net) a software named “itunes” onto your Computer (This is free). You need to import songs stored on your computer from different location, CD, pen-drive etc. into “itunes”. . Most of the commonly used formats like mp3, WMA etc. are converted and copied to itunes. A play list of these songs needs to be made in “itunes”. When you connect your Nano to Computer this play-list will be automatically copied to your Nano (This is called “Synchronization). The whole process is quite fast. If you join it to another Computer, with diff play-list; the earlier one will be erased and new one will be added. Otherwise you will have to add songs manually.
There is no Bluetooth, wifi etc. so you cannot copy songs from your mobile or other Nano onto your Nano directly. You cannot record songs from FM radio.
Same for copying photos and videos.
You can copy contacts like Phone number and address etc. from MS Outlook
There is voice recorder available. The Nano also comes with built-in pedometer to track the number of steps you take during walking, jogging etc.& Calories burnt, but I am not familiar with how this feature works.
The 8GB Nano is sufficient for anyone’s need but 16 GB model is available at about 11000 onwards.
There are no slots for adding cards on Nano, No screws to open it for replacing battery. This has to be done at service stn. Nano is delicate and you need to purchase rubber cover and pouch to protect it, this may cost you upward of Rs. 450/-
Depending on your use Nano needs battery charging daily to once in three days. Hanging of Nano is very common and you need to reset setting many times.
I am neither a gadget freak nor a very computer Savvy person, but I have given a fare description of Nano for those thinking of buying it.
For details on Nano search for “ipod Nano-wikepedia” on net.